Blood Runs Thicker
by Rebellion Author
Summary: It's the 115th Hunger Games and 17 year old Emily Castor desperately wish that neither her or her twin sister get called for the games. But she never thought that someone just as close to her would be called up instead. Just how far does one go for blood


_Okay so I got this idea from reading the Hunger Games (no duh huh?) anyway, I hope you like it._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

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**Blood Runs Thicker**

"Emily! Elsie! Greg! Get in here! We are leaving in two minutes!" Mom yelled out the back door. In the tiny backyard of our falling over house sat a tree. It was a useless tree really, it gave us no fruit to eat, and no flowers to sell at the market. However at the top of the trunk before it just split into a bunch of thick branches was a large empty area that we all like to sit and talk in, away from the prying eyes of the Peacekeepers or anyone else for that matter. We were having a great time in our tree, the three of us – or at least trying to – Mom's voice brought us back to reality. Today was the day of the Reaping. One by one we climbed down the tree. Greg went first and offered to help us down.

"Do I look like a porcelain doll Gregory?" Emily asked him before jumping down. I followed her. In the kitchen everyone was assembled. Mom was paper white like she was every Reaping since Greg was twelve. Sarah and Dan were in their school uniforms, they were nine and ten not yet eligible yet, Mom didn't have to worry for them at the moment, only for the rest of us. There was Eddie at fourteen, dressed in Greg's old suit – he would act like a little warrior trying to make Mom laugh before we separated; Adelaide's fifteen dressed in some pink and green concoction she made out of scraps of rags – if anything she'll be creative enough to avoid tributes in the arena if she is picked. Greg is the oldest at eighteen, after this year we won't have his tessera to help us out – we all take out the number of tesserae we would need for everyone in the family – but he will move out so Mom will have one less mouth to feed. Me and Emily are a year younger then him at seventeen and as identical as a reflection.

"Good heavens what were you three doing out there for so long?" Mom asked, taking us in – I'm sure we had lost the polished look she tries so hard for us to achieve jumping out of the tree. "Now you have no time to clean up. I'd have half a mind to leave you behind..."

"But you wouldn't have," Greg said flashing her a winning smile, Dad's smile. Dad died when Eddie was just over a year old. Two years later Mom married Rick and a year later along came Dan. Four years later Rick died, the day before Greg's first Reaping. Both our father and father type figure died in mine explosions. The smile worked on Mom though, she returned it and shooed us out the door.

I linked arms with Emily as we stepped onto the streets of the Seam, it was bright and sunny out – a nice spring day, the flowers were just starting to bloom too. I could feel her arm quake, although I'm not sure if it is just my nerves transferring to her or not. We both know this year will be disastrous, even if Greg isn't called in the Reaping the school year is almost over and he will go and work in the mines, and we will lose him to that. Both Emily and I cannot go to the games together, nor would we want to, and just the though of losing my other half as she fights for her life in the arena is enough to make me nauseous. In some ways I'd rather Adelaide be called then either of us – of course I'd rather she isn't called either.

Something cold slithered down my back and I shrieked at the same time as Emily. I heard Eddie laugh right before he ran past us. We both squirmed and swatted each others backs until a pile of dirt fell out of our shirts. Closer inspection showed worms in the dirt.

"Edward Caster, just wait until we get our hands on you!" I shout, and hand in hand me and Emily take off running after our younger brother, leaving the rest behind. We catch him right in front of a Peacekeeper. Together we circle him, always having one on each side.

"I'm sorry!" He squeaks, causing me to snicker. "I was only playing! I didn't mean..." Emily stops him by raising her hand. She was standing in front of him, I was behind him, our hand linked, he had no where to go.

"What do you think Els?" she asked, "What should we do to him?"

"I don't know Em deary, what idea's to do you have?" I responded in a false cheery voice.

"We could make him eat those worms, dirt and all," she suggested, Eddie started squirming.

"I have a much better idea," I said slowly, "we could," I leaned forward so that my mouth was right next his ear, "tickle him!"

Eddie started protesting as Elsie's and mine fingers went to work sending him into a fit of giggles. The Peacekeeper just laughed, just another crazy antic from the crazy Caster children. The Peacekeepers and Shopkeepers don't like us, they don't like that Mom re-married. In the Seam we're loved, Mom runs a day care so families can have both parents working in the Mines making money for the family. Her prices are reasonable as well, high enough for us to get by with our tesserae's – all five of us take out a tessera for ourselves as well as one for everyone else in the family – but low enough that she isn't robbing the others as well.

"Hey hey hey, what's going on?" Greg asked breaking us apart.

"Eddie put worms down our back," Elsie pouted, I joined her in nodding. She sounded like a five year old, and I'm sure we looked like that too.

Greg slapped Eddie on the back of the head, "I thought I taught you better," he said, "you only do that to the girls you like."

"Hey!" me and Elsie exclaimed at the same time. Greg smiled at us innocently and went to sign up his name. Eddie stuck out his tongue and followed.

"Shall we?" I asked Elsie, she nodded. At the entrance I dutifully put down _Emily and Elsie Caster_ like we had done every year, never putting down our names separately. We were twins, sure, but we really played it up, dressing alike, talking alike, and always _always_ being together, we'd even switch places in school just to mess with the teachers.

We took our places somewhere close to the front of the crowd of teens, just behind the eighteen year olds. I clutched to Elsie's arm for dear life, and my hand was going numb from her grasp. I could see Greg standing solidly somewhere in front of us, and turning around I could make out Adelaide's oddity of a dress, but I couldn't distinguish Eddie from the other fourteen year olds. Somewhere in the audience was Mom, Dan and Sarah. Out of our crowd of a couple hundred two would be called, and two families would be mourning tonight – no one from District 12 survive the Hunger Games.

The mayor came up and gave his annual speech, talking about that far off war that no one remembers. He introduced first our mentor, Peeta Mallark, a man in his late fifties. There used to be another mentor, a woman named Katniss, the same age as him, but she died three years ago – the official cause of death was the flu, but we all knew better, she died in a hunting accident. Her husband, Gale, followed soon after in a mine explosion, figures as much. Their only child, a son, died in the Games when I was younger. This mentor, Peeta, never married, no one knows why really. After Peeta bows and thanks the mayor, our escort is introduced, a man about twenty-six named Geeooff Driediger. His hair was blue, and his skin was tinted green. He looked like a rotting fish.

"Welcome to the One hundred and fifteenth Hunger Games," he told the crowd. "Shall we begin?" He crossed to the bowl that held the girls names. Plenty of which had a Castor girls name on it. Too many of the Castor girls names in it. He digs his hand in far and pulls out a name before slowly walking back to center stage. The paper slowly unfolds, and he takes his own sweet time in reading it before saying clearly: "Emily Castor!"

I froze, Elsie froze. We looked at each other, trying for a moment to figure out who he said. Emily. He said Emily. Me. Neither of us could move.

"Emily Castor!" Geeooff repeated. We had to pry our arms apart, but we didn't unstick until we reached the base of the stage where Greg had to pry us apart and shove me up the stairs. My fingers tingled as blood flowed to them again. I took small hesitant steps to the stage to shake Geeooff's hands, they were soft and warm – odd for someone so cold hearted. "I wish you luck Emily Castor," he said, as he says every year to every tribute, they all die.

He crossed to the bowl holding the boys names, digs in deep and pulls out another name. I'm too stunned to think of which family, chances are from the Seam, probably someone I know, will be mourning with my mother tonight. Before I can clear my thoughts Geeooff Driediger is reading the name of the boy I will be fighting against in the arena. As he reads it my blood runs cold. No. There is no way I can be in an arena with him! I'd never be able to fight him.

Geeooff read in a clear voice, and to his credit didn't show his excitement that this name would add to the games this year. He reads,

"Gregory Castor."

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_There is it, chapter one. I hope you liked it. Not what I thought I was going to get out of this chapter, but it's still good._

_Thanks for reading._

_Please review._

_Rebellion Author._


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